0:00:00.000,0:00:00.570 0:00:00.570,0:00:03.580 There's been a lot of talk very[br]recently, or definitely 0:00:03.580,0:00:05.940 over the last several years,[br]about the idea of intelligent 0:00:05.940,0:00:10.970 design and how it compares[br]to evolution. 0:00:10.970,0:00:14.580 And my goal in this video[br]isn't to enter into that 0:00:14.580,0:00:17.950 discussion, or it's actually[br]turned into an argument in 0:00:17.950,0:00:21.505 most circles, but really to make[br]my best attempt to kind 0:00:21.505,0:00:25.710 of reconcile the notions. 0:00:25.710,0:00:28.110 So the idea behind intelligent[br]design is really that there 0:00:28.110,0:00:31.250 are some things that we see in[br]our world that are just so 0:00:31.250,0:00:35.560 amazing that it seems hard to[br]believe that it could be the 0:00:35.560,0:00:39.390 product of a set of[br]random processes. 0:00:39.390,0:00:42.130 And the example that tends to[br]be given is the human eye, 0:00:42.130,0:00:45.630 which truly is an awe-inspiring[br]device. 0:00:45.630,0:00:47.200 You can call it an organ[br]or a machine. 0:00:47.200,0:00:48.820 Whatever you want to call[br]it, it does all of 0:00:48.820,0:00:49.680 these amazing things. 0:00:49.680,0:00:51.900 It can focus at different[br]lengths. 0:00:51.900,0:00:55.740 It brings the light into focus[br]at just the right spot, and 0:00:55.740,0:00:59.420 then you have your retinal[br]nerves and you have two eyes 0:00:59.420,0:01:01.260 so can see in stereoscopic[br]vision. 0:01:01.260,0:01:03.850 You can see in colors, and then[br]you can adjust to light 0:01:03.850,0:01:06.500 and dark, so the human eye[br]truly is awe inspiring. 0:01:06.500,0:01:09.020 And the argument tends to go[br]that, look, how can this be 0:01:09.020,0:01:10.460 created from random processes? 0:01:10.460,0:01:13.510 And the goal of this isn't to[br]trace the evolution of the 0:01:13.510,0:01:17.050 eye, but I'll do a little side[br]note here that evolution is-- 0:01:17.050,0:01:19.140 and natural selection, and[br]I like the word natural 0:01:19.140,0:01:20.680 selection more because[br]it's not talking 0:01:20.680,0:01:22.920 about an active process. 0:01:22.920,0:01:26.710 Natural selection is acting over[br]eons and eons of time, 0:01:26.710,0:01:31.370 and we do see evidence in our[br]world of a progression of 0:01:31.370,0:01:32.460 different types of eyes. 0:01:32.460,0:01:36.940 In fact, all evidence shows[br]that the human eye is not 0:01:36.940,0:01:42.970 perfect, and that there[br]is variation. 0:01:42.970,0:01:45.230 I mean, we all know some of us[br]are nearsighted, some are 0:01:45.230,0:01:45.900 farsighted. 0:01:45.900,0:01:48.620 We have astigmatisms. It[br]degenerates over time. 0:01:48.620,0:01:51.750 People generate cataracts, so[br]there's a whole set of things 0:01:51.750,0:01:53.480 that can go wrong with[br]the human eye. 0:01:53.480,0:01:56.070 I'm not using that as a[br]rebuttal, but I'm just showing 0:01:56.070,0:02:00.850 you that there is variation,[br]even in what I believe is 0:02:00.850,0:02:04.320 truly an amazing piece[br]of biology. 0:02:04.320,0:02:07.490 And even if you go outside of[br]the human world, there's 0:02:07.490,0:02:09.139 obviously a huge spectrum[br]of eyes. 0:02:09.139,0:02:13.570 You have fish at the bottom of[br]the ocean that have eyes that 0:02:13.570,0:02:16.410 are really just light sensors,[br]that barely can maybe tell 0:02:16.410,0:02:18.780 you-- and some insects are like[br]this-- whether there's 0:02:18.780,0:02:20.760 some light or some heat[br]around, nothing 0:02:20.760,0:02:21.950 really more than that. 0:02:21.950,0:02:23.850 And at the other end of the[br]spectrum, far better than 0:02:23.850,0:02:26.930 humans, you have certain birds[br]and a certain type of 0:02:26.930,0:02:29.650 nocturnal creatures where they[br]can see in the dark. 0:02:29.650,0:02:34.330 You know, maybe you have a[br]certain-- actually, all cats 0:02:34.330,0:02:37.080 have this reflective material in[br]their eye that allows them 0:02:37.080,0:02:39.570 much better night vision, so in[br]that way they're superior 0:02:39.570,0:02:41.710 to humans, and they can see just[br]as good as humans during 0:02:41.710,0:02:43.090 the daytime. 0:02:43.090,0:02:47.070 You have certain birds who can[br]see with far more visual 0:02:47.070,0:02:49.750 clarity at far better distances[br]than humans can, so 0:02:49.750,0:02:51.490 there is no perfect eye. 0:02:51.490,0:02:53.750 So I'll go into a little bit[br]of a theological argument 0:02:53.750,0:02:55.800 here, and for those of you who[br]watch my videos, you know that 0:02:55.800,0:02:58.380 I'm one to stray away from[br]theological arguments, 0:02:58.380,0:03:01.640 although I might eventually do[br]a whole philosophy playlist, 0:03:01.640,0:03:05.520 but I want to be very careful[br]not to offend anyone's 0:03:05.520,0:03:07.330 sensibilities, because[br]that truly, truly, 0:03:07.330,0:03:10.100 truly is not my intention. 0:03:10.100,0:03:13.440 But the whole point I want to[br]make is that, look, if you 0:03:13.440,0:03:16.310 believe in a God, and I won't[br]take sides on that argument in 0:03:16.310,0:03:23.030 this video right here, it's to[br]some degree, I would say, 0:03:23.030,0:03:26.640 almost disparaging of an[br]all-powerful being to say that 0:03:26.640,0:03:30.850 this human eye, it kind of gives[br]too much importance to 0:03:30.850,0:03:32.100 us as individuals. 0:03:32.100,0:03:37.430 I always think that religion--[br]and actually science. 0:03:37.430,0:03:38.530 Or actually everything. 0:03:38.530,0:03:41.480 I mean, we should be humble in[br]our lives, and there should be 0:03:41.480,0:03:44.950 the realization that we, as[br]humans, really-- this isn't 0:03:44.950,0:03:51.050 perfection, and to imply that[br]this is the best that a 0:03:51.050,0:03:54.220 perfect entity or an[br]all-powerful entity could 0:03:54.220,0:03:57.330 produce I think is a little[br]actually disparaging of it. 0:03:57.330,0:03:58.960 I'll give you another example. 0:03:58.960,0:04:01.600 I give you another example, and[br]I'll put my engineering 0:04:01.600,0:04:02.460 hat on here. 0:04:02.460,0:04:03.670 And once again, I want[br]to be very clear. 0:04:03.670,0:04:07.950 My goal isn't in this video to[br]say, oh, you know, look, hey, 0:04:07.950,0:04:11.130 evolution, random processes,[br]that by itself, there is no 0:04:11.130,0:04:12.850 God, and you just have[br]to live with it. 0:04:12.850,0:04:13.820 No, that's not my point. 0:04:13.820,0:04:18.160 I'm actually making the opposite[br]argument, that a 0:04:18.160,0:04:23.370 belief in God would not point[br]to a God who-- a belief in a 0:04:23.370,0:04:27.300 universal, all-powerful God[br]would not point to a God who 0:04:27.300,0:04:31.510 designs the particular, who[br]designs each particular. 0:04:31.510,0:04:33.640 And even more, the imperfections[br]that we see 0:04:33.640,0:04:36.790 around us would-- and especially[br]because we see 0:04:36.790,0:04:38.420 variation and they're being[br]selected for it. 0:04:38.420,0:04:39.950 I mean, we can't just[br]focus on the eye. 0:04:39.950,0:04:42.160 We would have to focus on[br]viruses and cancers, and it 0:04:42.160,0:04:46.460 would have to speak to a God[br]that is designing one off 0:04:46.460,0:04:50.990 every version of every sequence[br]of DNA that we see, 0:04:50.990,0:04:54.790 because if someone talks about[br]designing an eye, we know that 0:04:54.790,0:04:59.220 the eye is the byproduct of DNA,[br]and we know the DNA is a 0:04:59.220,0:05:04.950 sequence of base pairs, you[br]know, ATG, C, A, and, you 0:05:04.950,0:05:07.240 know, billions and[br]billions of them. 0:05:07.240,0:05:09.970 And so when we talk about[br]design, we would be talking 0:05:09.970,0:05:12.550 literally about designing[br]the sequence. 0:05:12.550,0:05:14.490 And we even know that a lot of[br]the sequence, there's some 0:05:14.490,0:05:15.230 noise in there. 0:05:15.230,0:05:18.210 We know that a lot of it comes[br]from primitive viruses deep in 0:05:18.210,0:05:18.890 our past. 0:05:18.890,0:05:22.800 So the argument I'm making here[br]is that in order to give 0:05:22.800,0:05:30.380 credit to the all powerful, at[br]least to my mind, a system 0:05:30.380,0:05:44.410 that comes from very simple and[br]elegant basic ideas like 0:05:44.410,0:05:50.050 natural selection and[br]variations, that in our DNA, 0:05:50.050,0:05:53.350 we call those mutations, in[br]the laws of physics and 0:05:53.350,0:05:58.090 chemistry, and those, from that[br]simple and elegant basic 0:05:58.090,0:06:03.350 ideas, for complexity[br]to emerge. 0:06:03.350,0:06:05.540 So this is one idea and this[br]is what really evolution 0:06:05.540,0:06:10.700 speaks to, that, look, our[br]universe is this profound 0:06:10.700,0:06:14.560 world, this profound[br]environment, where from these 0:06:14.560,0:06:18.750 very basic, simple, beautiful[br]ideas, we have this complexity 0:06:18.750,0:06:20.730 in the structure that is truly, 0:06:20.730,0:06:23.060 truly, truly awe inspiring. 0:06:23.060,0:06:26.030 This is, in my mind, what[br]evolution speaks to. 0:06:26.030,0:06:30.070 And in my mind, even as an[br]engineer, this speaks to a 0:06:30.070,0:06:31.930 higher form of design. 0:06:31.930,0:06:34.165 This speak to a more[br]profound design. 0:06:34.165,0:06:37.620 0:06:37.620,0:06:43.330 So this whole video, the whole[br]argument, is that if one does 0:06:43.330,0:06:46.210 believe in a God, and, you know,[br]I'm not going to take 0:06:46.210,0:06:51.860 sides in that in this video,[br]and a God that speaks to 0:06:51.860,0:06:58.060 beauty and elegance and is[br]infinitely powerful, then this 0:06:58.060,0:07:01.670 idea of the laws of physics[br]and chemistry and natural 0:07:01.670,0:07:03.910 selection, which is really-- I[br]mean, you know, when I talked 0:07:03.910,0:07:05.800 about natural selection in the[br]last video, it was really-- I 0:07:05.800,0:07:08.900 think you would find it was[br]a bit of common sense. 0:07:08.900,0:07:14.290 That this is a very profound[br]design and it speaks to the 0:07:14.290,0:07:19.160 art of the designer as opposed[br]to designing each of these 0:07:19.160,0:07:20.150 entities one off. 0:07:20.150,0:07:22.100 And what's even more profound[br]about the design 0:07:22.100,0:07:24.970 is that it's adaptive. 0:07:24.970,0:07:29.070 If there's environmental[br]stress, then the other 0:07:29.070,0:07:32.420 variations survive[br]more frequently. 0:07:32.420,0:07:35.930 And so it's never changing,[br]that perfection, that no 0:07:35.930,0:07:40.140 instance can ever be pointed to[br]and say this is the highest 0:07:40.140,0:07:41.830 point that this design[br]can reach. 0:07:41.830,0:07:44.480 That is always-- I don't want[br]to say getting better. 0:07:44.480,0:07:47.650 It's always getting more suited[br]to its environment as 0:07:47.650,0:07:50.840 it changes, and that to[br]me is a better design. 0:07:50.840,0:07:53.250 Now, just following[br]up on that, and I 0:07:53.250,0:07:53.970 want to be very clear. 0:07:53.970,0:07:57.460 This whole idea is to kind of[br]raise the standard of what we 0:07:57.460,0:07:59.230 expect out of design. 0:07:59.230,0:08:02.290 It's to kind of show other[br]points or other places in the 0:08:02.290,0:08:05.310 scientific or mathematical world[br]where this does emerge. 0:08:05.310,0:08:08.900 And the best example I see[br]of that is with fractals. 0:08:08.900,0:08:11.850 A lot of you-all might have[br]seen-- this is the Mandelbrot 0:08:11.850,0:08:14.610 set, a very famous[br]set of fractals. 0:08:14.610,0:08:16.230 It's immensely complex. 0:08:16.230,0:08:20.580 In fact, you can keep zooming[br]in on the Mandelbrot set at 0:08:20.580,0:08:23.370 any point, and when you zoom it[br]out, it becomes infinitely 0:08:23.370,0:08:26.940 complex, and you can explore[br]it indefinitely. 0:08:26.940,0:08:30.870 But the beauty of it, the true[br]beauty of it, is all of this 0:08:30.870,0:08:34.360 can be described by one[br]equation, one almost 0:08:34.360,0:08:40.409 shockingly simple equation, and[br]that's this: The next z is 0:08:40.409,0:08:45.340 equal to the z before[br]it squared plus 1. 0:08:45.340,0:08:47.080 And you're like you know, Sal,[br]you started talking about 0:08:47.080,0:08:50.070 intelligent design and evolution[br]and all of that. 0:08:50.070,0:08:52.500 Why are you all of a sudden[br]breaking into fractals? 0:08:52.500,0:08:57.340 And the point I'm trying to make[br]here is that if I had two 0:08:57.340,0:09:01.280 designers and one set out to[br]go and paint this exact 0:09:01.280,0:09:03.710 particular fractal and say,[br]oh, you know, I'm going to 0:09:03.710,0:09:05.620 make this brown and I'm going[br]to make this blue and I'm 0:09:05.620,0:09:07.950 going to make this a circle[br]with other circles, you'd 0:09:07.950,0:09:10.430 think this is an amazing[br]painter. 0:09:10.430,0:09:15.590 For example, if you were to go[br]to someone 300 years ago and 0:09:15.590,0:09:17.920 you were to show them this, they[br]would say that this is 0:09:17.920,0:09:21.380 the finest design that anyone[br]might have ever been able to 0:09:21.380,0:09:23.780 devise, because it's so[br]infinitely complex. 0:09:23.780,0:09:27.150 But now we know that this can[br]be completely described by 0:09:27.150,0:09:29.880 this simple equation,[br]literally. 0:09:29.880,0:09:32.020 For those of you are interested,[br]all they're doing, 0:09:32.020,0:09:37.170 this is a complex plane, and[br]they're starting at zero-- 0:09:37.170,0:09:39.890 excuse me, not plus 1, plus c. 0:09:39.890,0:09:41.020 Let me make that very clear. 0:09:41.020,0:09:43.170 This is the equation plus c. 0:09:43.170,0:09:45.990 So for every point on the[br]complex plane, you put that 0:09:45.990,0:09:50.850 point in for c, and then you[br]start with zero, and you keep 0:09:50.850,0:09:51.360 doing this. 0:09:51.360,0:09:53.860 So you say zero squared plus[br]that number, that complex 0:09:53.860,0:09:55.100 number, is equal to that. 0:09:55.100,0:09:57.230 Then you put that in here, and[br]then you do that number 0:09:57.230,0:09:59.290 squared plus that complex[br]number, and you do it again. 0:09:59.290,0:10:01.050 You do it over and[br]over and over. 0:10:01.050,0:10:05.110 So turns out that some numbers[br]don't go to infinity and those 0:10:05.110,0:10:06.520 numbers are in black. 0:10:06.520,0:10:08.860 They're considered part[br]of the Mandelbrot set. 0:10:08.860,0:10:12.790 And then the numbers that do go[br]to infinity, as you iterate 0:10:12.790,0:10:16.130 on this formula, you color it[br]based on how fast it goes to 0:10:16.130,0:10:20.800 infinity, and it creates this[br]infinitely beautiful and 0:10:20.800,0:10:22.640 complex pattern. 0:10:22.640,0:10:26.190 Now, if you were to say what is[br]a more profound design, and 0:10:26.190,0:10:29.640 you can ask any engineer this,[br]in my mind, this is the most 0:10:29.640,0:10:30.840 profound design. 0:10:30.840,0:10:34.610 Because it's simple and elegant,[br]but it describes 0:10:34.610,0:10:38.100 something of infinite[br]complexity. 0:10:38.100,0:10:40.580 It's not just focused on the[br]particular, it's focused on 0:10:40.580,0:10:42.000 kind of the metalevel. 0:10:42.000,0:10:47.280 It's focused on creating just[br]the idea of which this is just 0:10:47.280,0:10:48.270 an example. 0:10:48.270,0:10:55.680 So anyway, this is probably my[br]video where I steer most away 0:10:55.680,0:10:59.690 from the science of it all and[br]maybe I focus a little bit 0:10:59.690,0:11:01.260 more on the slightly 0:11:01.260,0:11:03.610 metaphysical or the awe inspiring. 0:11:03.610,0:11:06.290 But my whole point here is to[br]really throw out my little 0:11:06.290,0:11:08.440 idea of how you can reconcile[br]these notions. 0:11:08.440,0:11:13.350 That evolution, the randomness[br]of it, does not speak to a 0:11:13.350,0:11:15.280 Godless universe, although[br]I'm not going to 0:11:15.280,0:11:16.290 take sides on that. 0:11:16.290,0:11:20.930 It speaks to a more profound[br]God, in my mind. 0:11:20.930,0:11:27.170 So anyway, forgive me for taking[br]my liberties, and I 0:11:27.170,0:11:29.710 want to make it very clear, I[br]don't want to offend anyone's 0:11:29.710,0:11:31.910 sensibilities, but I really[br]just wanted to throw 0:11:31.910,0:11:33.700 this idea out there. 0:11:33.700,0:11:35.440 See you in the next video.